College Football's Defining Moments

ESPNU's 100 plays, performances, and moments that define college football. Compiled several years ago, long before Auburn beat Bama in the Kick Six game, which surely would've made the top three.

Unlike some Johnny-come-lately sports websites (one recently ranked a recent Georgia Tech blocked field goal as the greatest play in football history), ESPN did a good job of pulling several significant events from every decade.

How many do you remember?

100. 2002 Marshall, Leftwich bests Akron despite broken shin
99. 1977 Fuller to Butler, #15 Clemson edges SC
98. 1903 Harvard edges Carlisle despite Warner's hidden ball play
97. 2002 Las Vegas Bowl: 1st female kicker for New Mexico
96. 1934 Minnesota edges Pitt with trick play.
95. 1969 Archie duels Bama in 1st nationally televised night game
94. 1941 Sugar Bowl: Leahy's Boston College upsets Vols
93. 1921 Centre upsets unbeaten Harvard
92. 2005 Capital One Bowl: Iowa upsets LSU, Saban
91. 1966 Spurrier's field goal beats Auburn, wins Heisman.

90. 1934 Rose Bowl Columbia upsets Stanford's Vow Boys with trick play
89. 1971 Tangerine Bowl: Toledo QB Ealey caps 35-0 career
88. 1941 Rose Bowl: Stanford's T-formation caps undefeated season
87. 1968 Harvard scores 16 points in final 42 ticks to "beat" Yale 29-29
86. 1988 FSU's puntrooskie beats #3 Clemson

85. 1999 Baylor tries to pad lead but fumbles, loses to UNLV
84. 1980 FSU upsets Nebraska in Lincoln
83. 1971 Marshall stuns Xavier in 1st home game after crash
82. 1979 Rose Bowl: USC beats Michigan with no fumble call.
81. 1980 Holiday Bowl: McMahon leads 21 point comeback
80. 1996 Texas upsets #3 Huskers in 1st Big 12 Championship Game
79. 1995 #6 Northwestern upsets Penn State to earn Rose Bowl berth.
78. 1905 Michigan's 56 gain win streak ends in controversy.
77. 1990 New Florida HC Spurrier upsets Bama
76. 1963 Staubach, #2 Navy def Army. 1st instant replay.

75. 1998 #1 Vols need miracle to edge Arkansas
74. 1920 Gipp throws record long TD pass. Dies 3 weeks later.
73. 1946 0-7 Navy could've tied undefeated Army with a field goal,
but went for the win. And lost.
72. 1969 Orange Bowl: young Paterno edges Kansas
71. 1964 Ken Hatfield leads Arkansas past Texas, Nobis
70. 1928 Neyland's Vols stun Wade's Tide.
69. 1935 Rose Bowl: Don Hutson leads Tide past Stanford
68. 1979 Jim Kelly's upstart Canes upset #19 Penn State
67. 1925 Rose Bowl: Elmer Layden leads Irish over Stanford
66. 1939 Rose Bowl USC upsets Duke, who hadn't allowed a point all year.
65. 2005 Bush pushes Leinart over goal to beat Irish on last play.
64. 1988 Upstart Irish edged #1 Miami, finishes #1.
63. 2000 Sugar Bowl FSU won, but VT's Mike Vick was the star.
62. 1970 USC FB Sam Cunningham changes Bear Bryant's mind
about integration

61. 1985 Bama beats Auburn on Van Tiffin's 52 yard field goal.
60. 1991 #1 FSU loses to #2 Miami when kick sails wide right.
59. 1993 Boston College upsets #1 Irish in South Bend
58. 1971 #3 Michigan uses leaping interception to beat Buckeyes
57. 1964 USC came back to upset Ara's #1 Irish
56. 1912 Red Grange beats Army w/Pop Warner's new single wing offense
55. 1972 Auburn blocks 2 straight Bama punts
54. 1969 1st year HC Bo beats Woody's best Buckeye team
53. 1991 Orange Bowl: Irish lose to Buffs on a clipping call.
52. 1993 #1 FSU holds off #7 Florida with Dunn TD
51. 1990 Colorado needs 5 downs to beat Mizzou, tainting their title
50. 1924 Irish upset Army, Grantland Rice coins Four Horsemen phrase

49. 1997 Huskers catch carom for TD to beat Mizzou
48. 1993 Sugar Bowl #2 Bama routs #1 Miami
47. 1994 Orange Bowl: Bobby Bowden wins first title
46. 1928 Irish win one for the Gipper, beat Army 12-6
45. 1926 Rose Bowl Bama beats Washington
44. 1905 Yale injures Harvard, NCAA formed to take violence out of game.
43. 1935 Sammy Baugh & #1 SMU beat #2 Longhorns
42. 1957 Irish end Sooners 47 game win streak on 4th & goal
41. 1950 Navy beats Army for 1st time in 8 years, wins 10 of next 14.
40. 1980 UGA defeats Florida with Belue to Scott TD pass.

39. 1968 Texas invents the wishbone offense.
38. 1961 Cornell's Pete Gogolak makes 1st soccer style field goal.
37. 1956 Sugar Bowl 1st black player Pitt's Bobby Grier.
Georgia Tech wins 7-0 on a bad interference call.
36. 1980 Herschel runs over Bill Bates.

35. 1940 Cornell scores on a fifth down to win it's 18th straight game,
then forfeits to make it right.
34. 1985 Oklahoma's Troy Aikman breaks ankle. His replacement, freshman QB Holloway leads Sooners to the national title.
33. 1961 Bear & Butts sue the Saturday Evening Post
32. 1991 Desmond Howard strikes Heisman pose.
31. 2004 late Reggie Bush punt return edges Beavers
30. 1951 OK A&M lineman intentionally hurts Drake's black halfback.
29. 1953 Irish salvage a tie by faking an injury.
28. 1973 Ohio State ties an injured Michigan team, advances to Rose Bowl.
27. 1954 Cotton Bowl: Alabama's Tommy Lewis comes off the bench
to tackle Rice's Dicky Moegle.
26. 1929 Rose Bowl features Wrong Way Riegels.
25. 1924 Red Grange scores 4 times in 12 minutes.
24. 1974 USC comes back from 0-24 to lead 55-24.
23. 1946 Army, Irish tie 0-0. The game featured four Heisman winners: Lujack, Hart, Davis, and Blanchard
22. 1966 Notre Dame and Michigan State tie 10-10.
21. 1978 Gator Bowl: Woody Hayes punches Clemson LB
20. 1996 Fiesta Bowl: Huskers Tommie Frazier blows out Gators for title.
19. 1913 1st Army/Notre Dame game: Irish pass 17 times.
18. 1935 Irish beat Buckeyes in greatest game of the era.
17. 2003 Fiesta Bowl: Miami's pass interference gives Buckeyes the title
16. 1959 LSU's Billy Cannon's punt return beats Ole Miss.

15. 2007 Fiesta Bowl: Boise State's trick plays spark upset.
14. 1965 Orange Bowl: Nobis stops Namath.
13. 1979 Cotton Bowl: Joe Montana leads comeback over Houston.
12. 1987 Fiesta Bowl: Penn State upsets rouge Miami, Testaverde.
11. 1987 Miami edges Noles with Walsh to Irvin TD
10. 1984 Orange Bowl: Huskers go for win, but fail.
9. 1969 Texas edges Arkansas.
8. 1967 USC beats UCLA on OJ's 64 yard TD run.
7. 1973 Sugar Bowl: Irish 24 Bama 23
6. 1979 Sugar Bowl: Bama goal line stand to defeat Penn State.
5. 2006 Rose Bowl Vince Young TD run edges Trojans for title
4. 1971 Huskers edge Sooners with Johnny Rodgers punt return.
3. 1994 Colorado stuns Michigan with Kordell's hail mary (ranked too high)
2. 1982 Cal beats Stanford on The Play.

1. 1984 Doug Flutie beats Miami with hail mary pass.

The halfway point is 1971. Of these 48 came before 1971, three in 1971, and 49 happened in 1972 or later. Not too bad of a distribution.

1903 1905 1905 (3)
1912 1913 (2)
1920 1921 1924 1924 1925 1926 1928 1928 1929 (9)
1934 1934 1935 1935 1935 1939 (6)
1940 1941 1941 1946 1946 (5)
1950 1951 1953 1954 1956 1957 1959 (7)
1961 1961 1963 1964 1964 1965 1966 1966 1967 1968 1968 1969 1969 1969 1969 (15)
1970 1971 1971 1971 1972 1973 1973 1974 1977 1978 1979 1979 1979 1979 (14)
1980 1980 1980 1980 1982 1984 1984 1985 1985 1987 1987 1988 1988 (13)
1990 1990 1991 1991 1991 1971 1993 1993 1993 1994 1994 1995 1996 1996 1997 1998 1999 (17)
2000 2002 2002 2003 2004 2005 2005 2006 2007 (9)

Typing all these up helped me bone up on college football history.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/features/the100?index=21